Disclaimer: I do not claim to own the anime Gundam Wing or any of its characters. All this is for fun so please don't sue me!

Chapter Eight: The Missing Link

Sally stared off into space as she stood by the kitchen sink washing dishes on a Monday afternoon. It had been two days since the incident in the parking lot with Wufei. She had asked him what he meant by the remark about her poor eyesight coming in handy someday, but the man had stubbornly kept his mouth shut on the drive back to his place. In fact, she had not seen nor heard from him since then.

She had been trying to think up of possible excuses to get in touch with him, but all of them seemed to be on the border of being way too obvious. Sally let out a frustrated groan when she caught herself thinking about Wufei once again. She must admit, she was falling fast for the young Chinese man.

Correction, her subconscious said. You had already fallen for him, way back in the orphanage.

That's right, she told herself. I've always had feelings for him. I just didn't want to admit that I loved him.

Sally was momentarily shocked at the admission. It was true, she did love Wufei. All these years she had unconsciously compared every man she had met with Wufei. Always thinking that they were not good enough. Well, there it was, she was completely head over heals in love with that infuriating young man.

Once again the blonde let out a frustrated groan and brought up her right hand to rub at the beginnings of a headache, the action bringing her charm bracelet into view. She slowly pulled her hand away and gazed at the jewelry. Unbidden, Lucrecia's words came back to mind.

"Anyone who would send you a charm for your bracelet every year could only be a secret admirer."

For no apparent reason, Sally suddenly felt guilty. What if the person sending her these charms was a secret admirer? Did this mean she was somehow cheating on him?

No, she told herself. That can't be right. I don't even know who he is …

This charm bracelet had become a very treasured belonging of hers and she knows that she will always have a strong connection to whoever sent her the charms every year. She still wanted to find out who that person is, but will that mean she will be cheating on Wufei?

But I'm not even going out with Wufei, she silently wailed.

"Argh," she cried out into the empty room. "I'm so confused." Sally sighed and looked down at the dog playing with toy next to her. "Won't it be just wonderful and a lot easier if it was Wufei who was sending me those charms?"

Just as she was about to rub her temples again, the unmistakable ring of the doorbell sounded. Sally turned off the faucet and dried her hands. Jax was already standing by the door, eager to see who the visitor was. Upon opening the front door, Sally was assailed by a blonde-haired girl.

"Sally!" the girl cried out happily as she hugged the older blonde tightly. "It's been so long since I last saw you."

Recovering from her shock, Sally looked down at the teenager and returned her smile. "Hannah. This is a pleasant surprised. What are you doing here?"

"The brat wanted to surprise you," said a young woman behind Hannah. She had long blonde hair and appeared to be in her early twenties. Even though her prominent brows were pulled down into a frown, one could not miss the unmistakable affection that shone in her eyes as she looked at the younger girl.

Sally greeted the other woman with the same warm smile. "Dorothy. It's good to see you too."

Dorothy was the only child of the Catalonias, the family Sally helped take in Hannah. It was easy for anyone to fall in love with the then nine year Hannah. So when the couple visited the orphanage to adopt another kid it was not long before the little blond girl found herself a sister to Dorothy. And even with the ten years difference between them, the two had no problems becoming sisters, even though they often put on an act of not getting along. Sally had often visited Hannah and her new family back in New York for the last five years and had seen how much they had loved and accepted the young girl.

Dorothy gave Sally a weary smile. "Yeah well, I'd probably greet you a bit more cheerfully if I'm not so dead tired. Einstein here thought it'd be brilliant to have a cross-country road trip while we visited you here in San Francisco."

"Oh, come on," Hannah said teasingly to her foster sister. "Admit it Dorothy, you enjoyed seeing the country side too."

"Whatever, squirt," said the older woman, rolling her eyes with mock indifference. "Next time you plan on an excursion, find someone else to drive."

"Hey, Sally," Hannah said, turning to her friend. "Do you maybe have some coffee. It might help Miss Grumpy here perk up a little."

Sally saw the young woman's hopeful expression and gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I don't keep coffee in the house." She saw Dorothy's face fall and a sudden thought struck her. With a wide grin, Sally silently congratulated herself for coming up with an idea that would fix Dorothy's need for caffeine and her previous dilemma.

"But you know what, I know the perfect place to get coffee."

********

"Isn't this a bookstore?" Dorothy asked as she got out of Sally's car.

Sally tried to keep her voice steady as she answered, "Um, yeah. But there's a café inside. I know you'll love their coffee."

Okay, Sally reasoned with herself. So I don't really know if they make good coffee, but if this is the only way I get to see Wufei, then a little white lie won't hurt.

Upon entering the store, Hannah suddenly remembered that she needed a book for one of her reading assignments. Sally suggested they ask one of the workers to see if they had the book she needed. The three of them then approached the counter where two clerks appeared to be arguing, at least it would have been an argument if the one with the shorter hair was talking.

"Don't tell me the idea doesn't appeal to you? Think about what this could mean," they heard the man with the braided hair earnestly say. When the other brunette merely gave him a blank look, the latter continued. "Come on Trowa, the guy needs to loosen up a bit. I'm pretty sure once he's occupied with the girl then he'll get off our case."

The girls saw the guy named Trowa raise an eyebrow at the other worker.

"Oh okay, Mr. Perfect," the exasperated, long-haired brunette was saying, who at this point Sally had finally recognized as Duo. "Fine, my case then. Look, just help me get Wufei and the girl together."

Sally was a bit taken back by Duo's statement, not sure she liked the idea of Wufei being set up with another girl. She would have loved to hear more of what the two men were talking about, but Dorothy chose that moment to clear her throat to get the workers attention.

"Could we maybe get some help here," she told them impatiently.

"I'm sorry," Trowa said solemnly. "What can I help you with?"

"Sally?" a voice from behind the group suddenly asks. They all turn to see Wufei standing there. "I thought that was -"

"Hey," Duo said cutting in, his eyes trained on Sally. "You're that pretty girl I saw with the boss that one time."

Wufei gave the other man an annoyed look, while Sally blushed. Things were definitely not going that way she had expected when she thought of coming here to get a glimpse of Wufei.

"Wufei, is that you?" Hannah asked almost in awe. "Wow, I can't believe it. When I heard them talk about hooking up some guy named Wufei with this one girl, I never thought it'd be you."

"What?" Wufei asked sharply, eyes nervously darting to Sally before glaring at Duo.

The braided man was too fascinated by his employer's reaction to worry about the look he was receiving. He also quickly took note of the way Sally seemed to be avoiding everyone's eyes, specially Wufei's. His own eyes, however, wandered back and forth between the two, trying to piece the puzzle together.

Suddenly a triumphant grin appeared on his face and he shouted, "I got it!" laughing with merriment.

"Sally, why didn't you tell me you've met up again with Wufei all this time?" Hannah asked.

"Argh," Dorothy groaned amid all the confusion. "I need my coffee now. I'll be at the cafe. Get me when you have the book," she told Hannah irritably as she walked away.

"Sally?" came Hannah's insistent voice.

"Enough already," growled Wufei. "You," pointing at Duo, "in my office now."

As Duo quickly scampered away, Wufei told Trowa to help Hannah find her book. The girl would have protested, if not for the glowering look she received from the Chinese man. After Hannah left with the brown-haired worker, Wufei then turned to address Sally, but she beat him to it when she quickly made the excuse of joining Dorothy at the cafe.

Wufei watched her go, his shoulders giving a dejected slump. For a brief moment, he was unable to mask the deep longing that flittered across his face.

"Man, that guy's got it bad," Duo said almost in disbelief, peering around a corner before continuing on his way.

Wufei walked up to Sally's front door five days later, hoping that Hannah and the other girl had already left. He really needed to talk to her alone and if he can, explain just what she had overheard in the store before leaving for his business trip.

He had been sorely tempted to fire Duo that day, but as annoying as the other man may be, the brunette was one of the better employees Wufei had worked with. It amazed Wufei that Duo was not even fazed at the verbal lashing he received from him. In fact, though he was loathed to admit it, he was here today because of something the braided young man had said. Duo, deciding on a direct approach, had suggested that he should not play any more games with the blond social worker. Seeing as Sally appeared to be a simple young woman, Duo mentioned that Wufei will most likely lose the girl if he kept giving her mixed signals. So with a bit of unease the young man found himself in front of Sally's house, pressing the doorbell and waiting for her to open the door.

A few seconds passed without anything happening and Wufei got worried. He knew that she was home since her car was parked along the driveway. He rang the doorbell one more time and almost jumped when he heard a crash inside the house.

"Sally?" he worriedly called out, pounding his fist on the door. When no reply came, he tried the knob. Finding it locked, Wufei deliberated whether he ought to break down the door. He was about to do just that when it opened and revealed a disheveled Hannah.

"Wufei?" she asked with a frown. "What's with all the pounding?"

"Are you alright?" He quickly ran his eyes over her. "You didn't answer the door when I rang it twice earlier."

Sally stepped outside and tried the doorbell herself, but heard no sound from inside. "Huh, must be broken then."

As she turned to face Wufei again, the young man immediately seized her right hand and brought it up for inspection. Sure enough blood as slowly oozing out of one of her fingers.

"You're bleeding," he said. "What happened?"

"Oh. A vase broke and I was picking up the pieces when -"

"Idiot," he sharply cut in. "Don't you know you're not suppose to pick up broken glass with your hands?"

Sally opened her mouth for a retort, but was again interrupted when he asked where he would find the first aid kit.

"In the kitchen," she immediately answered. She felt herself pulled along as they head to where the kitchen was. "Look, you don't have to do that. I can take care of it myself."

Wufei kept on walking, acting as if he had not heard her. With the first aid kit in hand, he quickly sat her down on one of the chairs and silently cleaned the cut.

Sally watched the younger man's intent face as he attended to her finger and could not help but blush at his closeness. Afraid that he might catch her looking at him, she quickly focused on what he was doing with her hand. She was mildly surprised that for someone who appears to be harsh, Wufei had such gentle hands. When they were all done, he walked back with Sally to the living room and for the first time the young man noticed the condition of the house.

"I didn't figure you'd be one of those who prefer to live in a pig sty," he said mockingly, critically eyeing the messy furniture.

Sally gave him one of his glares and with a broom swept the broken vase aside. "The lock on my bracelet broke and I lost one of my charms. I couldn't find it so I moved things around."

This caught Wufei's attention and he looked at her intently. "Must be really important if it'll make you turn your house upside down. So, is it from some old boyfriend you just can't let go?"

"Oh shut up," she muttered, going down on all fours to continue looking for the lost charm.

Wufei watched her progress for a few seconds before joining her in the search. Sally was surprised to see him on the floor with her, but gave a small smile as she turned her back to him.

"So, is it from a boyfriend?" she heard the quiet question asked again after a while. She debated whether she should say anything.

Finally she said, "No, it's not. In fact, I don't know whom it's from. Every year a charm is just delivered to my door for my birthday." She heard no comment from the young man and assumed he lost interest in the matter already.

After fifteen minutes of not finding anything, Sally sits back on her heels, ready to cry in frustration. She almost jumped in surprise when she heard Wufei talk just behind her.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

Sally turned around and saw him holding up the unicorn-shaped charm. Her face broke out into a joyful smile as she takes the charm. She glanced at Wufei and for a second she thought she saw a pleased expression on his face. Quickly standing up, she asked why he was there in the first place.

Wufei hesitated and deciding to play it safe for now and thought it would be better to put off having the serious talk he wanted. "I just came by to drop off the dog food I bought for Jax that one time," he said, thankful that he had thought of a backup plan earlier.

"Oh," she returned, somewhat disappointed. "You didn't have to do that."

"It's no big deal," he said as they walked out to his SUV. "Your house was on the way to the airport anyway."

"You're going somewhere?"

He unloaded the dog food and set it on her porch. "Business trip. I need to go to New York for a week." He held out his hand and asked to take a look at the bracelet.

"It's a simple break," he said examining the lock. "I can take it to someone while I'm in New York. It should be fixed by the time I get back."

"Oh no, that's really too much. You don't -"

"You say that phrase one more time and I'll be force to do the only thing I know to shut you up."

"And what, pray tell, would that be?" she asked with a hint of annoyance.

Before she knew what was happening, Wufei closed the gap between them and touched her lips with his. Sally's heart came to a complete stop. The kiss was brief and sweet, but nonetheless it sent electricity and warmth coursing through her body.

Wufei saw her stunned expression and gave a satisfied smirk. "Try not to miss me while I'm gone." With that said, Wufei walked back to his SUV and drove away. When he looked back through his rearview mirror, he saw that Sally was still where he had left her.

Author's notes: Alright people, how was that? I'm estimating about four more chapters to go, depending on how I end up sectioning off the rest of the story. Well, I'll see you as soon as I survive my finals. I promise to upload the next chapter after three weeks, hopefully sometime in the third week of December. Till then!

Next chapter: The return of Wufei and … dare I say it? … what the heck … Quatre. ^_^